Folding music-rack



(No' Model.)-

H. E. BRITTON. FOLDING MUSIC RACK.

No. 601,424. Patented Mar. 29,1898.

NiTEn STATES HORACE E. BRITTON, OF STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING MUSIC-RACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,424, dated March 29, 1898.

A li ati fil d December 5, 1896. Serial No. 614,680. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HORACE E. BRITTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stoughton, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Music- Racks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a folding music-rack of simple construction which can be easily opened or closed by a single movement of the hand.

The invention consists in the construction and combination hereinafter described and claimed.

I attain the above objects by means of the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a music-rack constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig.2 is a front elevation showing the musicrack folded or closed up into its casing. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are enlarged details of the device for securing the folding rack to its supporting-stand. Fig. 7 is a perspective View of the tubular casing which contains the closed-up music-rack and its supporting-stand.

In the said drawings, A represents a tubular casing, which is composed, preferably, of sheet metal and is divided axially into two parts 15 16, hinged together at b to open on a line parallel with the axis of the casing and secured when closed by a suitable fastening device, preferably by spring-clasps c c, fitting over pins d d, the portion 16 being provided with heads or disks e e for closing the ends of the casing when its two parts are shut together. To the portion 15 of the casing A, at the center of its length on a lug or block projecting inward from one of its upper edges and having a flat front face, is secured, by means of a single pin f, the folding music-rack B, which is adapted to be supported by a stand 0, provided, as usual, with folding legs and composed of sections sliding telescopically one within the other in the ordinary manner to enable the rack to be adjusted at different heights from the floor. The rack B is composed of a series of diagonally-crossed slats stand.

or bars pivoted together after the manner of l'azy-tongs, whereby they are adapted to be extended upward to support the music, as shown in Fig. 1, or closed compactly together to enable them to be inclosed within the cas- With this ing A, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. construction the lower edge of the music or book placed against the rack rests on the portion of the casing, which thus formsa shelf or support therefor, its semicircular form in cross-section particularly adapting it for this purpose. The pivot-pin f, by which the rack is secured to the portion 15 of the casing, also connects the lower ends of the two bars 20 21, and when the rack is extended for use, as shown in Fig. 1, the lower free ends of the bars 22 23, lying on either side of the pivotpin f, slide longitudinally on the inner surface of the shelf 15 and by resting thereon serve to hold and lock the shelf in a horizontal position, so that it cannot tip or rock to one side or the other of the pivot-pin f when in use.

The top 25 of the upper rod-section of the stand 0 is flattened and inclined at an angle, as shown in Fig. 5, and is provided with a buttonhole-slot g, Figs. 5 and 6, for the passage of the rearwardly-projecting head 26 of the pivot-pin 72-, which connects the two bars 22 23 of the rack B, said pin having a shoulder 28, between which and the head or button 26 is formed a neck 29, which is adapted to enter the narrow upper portion of the slot 9, a pin 1' projecting from the front face of the inclined top 25 beneath the slot g and lying directly under the junction of the bars 22 23, being pinched between said bars, which are thereby caused to ride up on the pin 1', this movement forcing the neck 29 of the pin it up into the narrow portion of the slot g, within which it is thus locked in such manner that it cannot be released therefrom until the rack is lowered or contracted sufficiently to leave a space between the pin 2' and the junction of the bars 22 23 of such width as to permit the pin it to be moved within the slot 9 intoaposition' to bring its head opposite to the enlarged circular portion of the same, when the rack can be unshipped and removed from the The rack can then be closed down into the shelf portion 15 of the casing A, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, by a single downward pressureof the hand, after which the stand 0 can be compactly folded up and also placed within the shelf portion by the side of the rack B, when the casing can be closed up,

pivoted they add nothing to the length of the rack when closed up and consequently require no increase in the length of the casing A.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

- diagonal bars or slats crossing each other and connected together after the manner of lazytongs, and pivoted at a single point to the center of a shelf, said rack being detachably connected to the supporting-stand above said shelf at the junction of two of its slats, and the stand being there provided with means for preventing the slats from folding.

2. The combination, with a tubularcasing formed of two semi-tubular sections hinged together at their longitudinal edges, of a folding music-rack secured within and carried by one section and adapted when folded to lie wholly within and be inclosed by said casing; said section of said casing forming the shelf for the rack when the casing is open and the rack extended, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a tubular casing formed of two semitubu'lar sections hinged together at their longitudinal edges; the ends of the leaf-supporting section being open to allow the sheet-music to extend therebeyond and the ends of the cover-section provided with disks to close said open ends when the casing is closed, of a folding music-rack secured to and carried by the inner side of the open-ended section and adapted to fold down therein and be inclosed within the casing,

4.. The combination with the tubular casing formed of the semitubular sections hinged together at their longitudinal edges; the ends of the music-supporting section being open and the ends of the cover-section being provided with disks to close said open ends when the casing is closed, of a folding music-rack formed of diagonal bars or slats crossing each other and pivoted together after the manner of lazy-tongs; the lower ends of two of said bars being pivoted to the middle of the openended casing-section to permit the rack to fold down therein and be inclosed within the casing and a folding stand having a slotted upper end to engage the upper pivot of the folding rack; said stand being of a length when folded to fit within the casing with the rack, substantially as described.

'5. The combination with a casing formed in two sections to open and close, and a folding music-rack secured to one section to fold therein, of a detachable extensible supporting-standard of a length when folded or collapsed to rest within the said casing alongside the folded rack, substantially as set forth. 6. In a folding music-rack, the combination with a supporting-stand provided at its upper end with a flattened portion having a buttonhole-slot g and a, pin 2' projecting from its front face beneath the slot g, of the musicrack B composed of diagonal bars or slats crossing each other and connected together after the manner of lazy-tongs, said rack being provided with a rearwardly-extending pin hprovided with a head or button for en gaging the slot 9 and adapted to be locked therein by the pin '5 when the rack is opened upward for use, substantially as described.

Witness my hand this th day of Novemher, A. D. 1896.

HORACE E. BRITTON.

In presence of- P. E. TESOHEMACHER, B. L. MARDEN. 

